Mondays With Morrie
by TheGryfter
Summary: The year is 2031. A reporter interviews Morrie Goldstein, who worked as a security guard at the Daily Planet for decades. Morrie tells a tale of friendship, formed over the years with Lois, Clark, Chloe and Jimmy... people who would change the world.
1. Intro

A/N: Another story that just came out. Seriously, assaulted me in like 2 hours this morning. I don't know why Smallville fics are assaulting me, but I'll keep writing and sharing them. Hope you guys like it.

This is a weird POV piece, that I hope gives us a new slant on the tale we know and love.

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**Mondays With Morrie**

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**Intro.**

13-05-2031

The reporter checked that he had everything he needed. The ultra slimline digital voice-catcher (a recording device so advanced it was considered classified military technology only two years ago), his iBook, with the almost 70 GB of background data he'd collected for the story (all readily searchable by voice-command) and, of course, a reporter's failsafe – a notepad and pen.

The reporter was very aware of the fact that he was walking in the footsteps of giants here.

Normally, being assigned to write a biography was a sign of a flagging career. After all, trolling through old home videos and interviewing people who knew famous people way back when before they were famous wasn't exactly on par with being 'on the spot' – delivering firsthand accounts of the trench battle taking place between heroes from the League and the new invaders from K'raath.

Not this biography, though. This was the highest honour. Even if the interview he was about to conduct wouldn't be terribly riveting, or form a significant part of the Data-Book that was scheduled to be released next year.

The door opened, and an in-house guard, proudly displaying the Daily Planet lapel pin – led the old man in. The reporter was struck by his appearance. According to the file, Maurice "Morrie" Goldstein was 103 years old. He looked at least 130.

The reporter knew that Morrie started working at the Daily Planet as a janitor's intern in 1946. A war veteran at the ripe-old age of 19, he was soon assigned to the security detail. He was promoted to Head of Security in 1960. A position he held for an unbelievable 54 years, before his retirement in 2014.

In a very real sense, Morrie had seen it all. He'd been 'on the spot', in regular contact with men and women who shaped the way the world saw the world. Journalistic greats like Edgar Marriner, Janice Troyman, Perry White… the list went on and on. They all knew Morrie. And Morrie knew them.

Which was the whole reason the reporter was here today. The old man greeted him warmly, with a surprisingly firm handshake, before settling down into the ergonomically fantastic chair they'd brought in for him. His eyes were bright and sharp, and his smile genuine. The reporter liked him instantly – becoming part of a long, long line of reporters who considered Morrie someone they could call friend. He quickly went over his reasons for the interview, asking Morrie if he needed anything before they got started. Morrie asked for water, and the guard was dispatched to fetch a bottle.

The reporter explained that this wouldn't be a standard Q&A. Rather, he wanted Morrie to get comfortable, and just tell some stories. They'd be data-captured, and the reporter would pull pertinent anecdotes for the final manuscript. Morrie was fine with that, and started to talk. Soon, the reporter found himself swept away, on a tale he'd never heard told…


	2. Chloe

**Chloe.**

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"It started with Chloe Sullivan, you know? She was the first of that little crew to start workin' here. This was back when Big Daddy Luthor was still runnin' LuthorCorp, before he took a swandive out that window. You know the rumours… they said it was ol' Lex himself who gave daddy that last push. Do I believe it? Sure, I do, and I'd tell him that to his face if I could… ain't much I'm scared of now. Not at my age.

Anyways, it was Lionel who got Chloe in here on an internship while she was in high school. She was very cagey about just why Lionel set it up for her. Only mentioned it to me the one time, personally. But she was here for a little while before he yanked it out from under her.

Devastated she was when that happened. I remember helpin' her carry her box of stuff to her car. She cried the whole way. I told her to buck up, she'd be back. She was too good – too much of a natural reporter to be kept out the door for long, and I was right. Coupla years later, she was back here, workin' as a cub reporter.

I liked Chloe. Full o' life, that kid was. Always smilin', always willin' to sit and just shoot the breeze with an old yaw-jacker like me. There was a brightness to her, you know? The stories about him don't really talk about Chloe much these days, and it's a bit of a shame. Chloe's the one who introduced me to him. They were best friends, and he was always round here when Chloe was on the job.

She loved the coffee from that place what used to be down the street… What was it again? Oh yeah! The Jumpin' Bean. Too fancy that coffee for my taste. They was always addin' stuff to it. Soy milk, and cinnamon, and banana this-or-that. It weren't coffee no more by the time they were done. But Chloe, she loved it! And everytime she bought herself a new flavour – every other week, far as I can recall – she'd buy me one too, then just stand there at my desk, fit to burst with laughter when I pulled a face and told her it tasted like ice-cream that cows forgot.

I guess that was sorta the start of the tradition – Chloe and her coffees. But not really. It really started when… hold on. I'll get to that. Lemme finish about Chloe first.

Black Thursday was the end of it for her, I think. You know about Black Thursday, don'tcha sonny? Sure you can bring up all the facts about it on that fancy little hand computer you got there. Well, what that computer won't tell you is how it smelled when the building caught fire. How scared people were when they jumped from windows to get away. How heavy that young Maggie Carter's body was when I dug it out of the rubble of the basement. No, it won't tell you none o' that. Course, he was right in the middle of it, and Chloe was too…

I remember her last day, couldn't have even been a year after Black Thursday. For the second time, I was helpin' her carry her stuff to the car. I asked her why she was leavin'. Lionel wasn't in charge no more – Lex was. Did he fire her? She told me he did, but she wasn't worried about it. I was surprised at that. Newspapers was in Chloe's veins as much as the red that carries life, that much I know. When I asked her what she meant, she told me something I'll never forget:

"Don't worry, Morrie," she says, "I'm not giving up the fight. I've just been sent to a different battleground."

That was Chloe Sullivan. A real fighter, and a sweet gal to boot.

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	3. Jimmy

**Jimmy.**

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Young Jimmy was sweet on Chloe from the start. They met here durin' her internship. Fact, I saw the whole thing. It was right by the ol' revolvin' doors they had before they put in these fancy new-matic doors. Jimmy was goin' out as Chloe was comin' in and don'tcha know the young fella just kept on goin' and followed her back inside. Round and round those two started… round and round they went for years.

He was a likeable one that Jimmy. Never saw someone smile so much. And always had his camera on him. I used to tell him he was goin' to miss out on life coz all he could see was the tiny piece you got in the little viewfinder. I shouldn't have bothered. Jimmy got life, alright, and he lived it. But he was always takin' pictures. In fact, I got one of his pictures here… in my wallet. Hold on, lemme get it…

That's all o' us. Taken on my 80th birthday, that was. Back in 2008. Jimmy brought his tripod, and set the camera to a timer. See how we're all laughin'? That's coz when Jimmy told everyone to say 'cheese', Lois stuck her tongue out and made that 'cut the cheese' noise! You know the one… a raspberry they used to call it. That cracked us all up, I'll tell ya!

That's Lois there. Beautiful, wasn't she? And Clark, next to her o' course. He was always next to Lois. That's Chloe. Told ya! Bright as a button, that one. And me, o' course… and Jimmy. See the smile? The smile of someone who knew about life! I don't tell a word of a lie.

Jimmy came to me for advice when he decided to ask Chloe to go steady with him. Do they still call it that? Goin' steady? I don't know… but that's what Jimmy called it. He had ants in his pants, he was so excited. Couldn't stand still long enough for me to give him my two pence worth. I was married to the same woman for 63 years, and that's why Jimmy wanted to talk to me. He said the world was full of advice for trickin' women into… doing things with ya… but not much about how to woo a girl. He wanted to woo Chloe. I liked that Jimmy.

Anyways, I gave him my advice and, sure enough, he cocked the whole thing up. I told him to buy her flowers. Roses. But to Jimmy, roses was borin' and he could do much better. So he went out and picked her some wildflowers. Not a bad idea, I'll grant ya… Certainly on the right track for showin' a gal you care… But did he have to pick a flower that twisted itself round poison oak?

They were both out of work for a week. But the way Chloe told it, sick as he was, Jimmy took care o' her. Nursed her back to health, and that's when she fell in love with him. So maybe young Jimmy knew somethin' I didn't.

She invited me to her wedding. I thought that was so sweet o' her. It was out in Smallville, on the Kent Farm. That's a museum now, or some such, isn't? The farm? Anyways, the wedding was in the barn and it was beautiful. Clark and Lois decorated the place like somethin' out of a fairytale, which I thought Chloe and Jimmy deserved. They looked so happy together.

It was at that wedding that I met Miss Lang. Course, I knew her as the ex-Mrs Luthor. She was a pretty girl – more'n pretty, actually – but there was somethin' off about her. It was in the eyes. You spend enough time with reporters, and you pick up on these things. With Miss Lang, I just thought… "God! This girl is so sad and she don't even know it." She looked like a girl the world had gotten to years ago, and was just carryin' on. She was walkin' and talkin', but not really livin'. The opposite of Jimmy, if you get my drift.

What happened at that wedding, I don't wanna talk about much. It's in the record books, and you can dig up as much about it as you want. I don't particularly care. History calls it the first appearance of the beast that killed Superman. I call it the time a monster almost killed one of the best boys I ever known. I saw Jimmy lyin' on the floor, his head in Chloe's lap as she cried an' cried… There was so much blood.

They say that thing killed Jimmy in the end… months later. I don't know the truth of it. All's I know is I only cried at three funerals in my life. My wife's – may God rest her soul, Superman's… and Jimmy Olsen's. He was so young. He coulda captured the world and shown it to us in his pictures. Instead, all's we're left with is a picture of an old man's birthday… and the image of a boy who'll never smile again…

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	4. Lois

**Lois.**

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Listen to me, I'm getting' morbid. Sorry about that, young fella. Let's talk about somethin' better. Let's talk about Lois.

She was the one who started it. They named a column after it in this very paper – continues to this day, and I'm flattered by that. I gotta laugh every single time I open the paper and see that headline: 'Mondays With Morrie'.

Funny thing is, it started because Lois hated Mondays. Hated them as much as that ginger cat what used to be in the comics… what was his name? Garfunkel? No, he was the singer… Anyway, somethin' like that. She hated Mondays somethin' fierce – which was surprisin' in someone as dedicated as she was.

She'd come in on a Monday with a bagel for me – and a coffee after her cousin Chloe left – and we'd spend a good hour just yakkin' about whatever. Not before or since have I met anyone with a mind like Lois. Probably the smartest person I ever known. Her mind could go twenty directions all at once, all of them pointless, until she joined those thoughts with one sentence that would blow your world. That's what made her a great writer. That's what won her seven Pulitzers I think it was at last count… Oh? Eight, you say? Well, they shoulda given her more but I think they wanted to be fair on everyone else.

I loved her stories about growin' up in the army. I think that's why Lois an' me connected. Bein' a veteran, she showed me respect. She understood what it was to fight and bleed for your country – her dad bein' a General – and she'd always tell me how grateful she was for what we did in Europe against the Nazis.

There was this one story she told that summed up Lois Lane like nobody's business. It was her Sweet Sixteen and her daddy couldn't make it. He was off monitorin' manoeuvres in the DMZ between North and South Korea or some such – this was before they became one country, you understand – but it don't matter to a little girl how important her daddy's job is. It just matters that he's not there.

Course, Lois wasn't the type to lock herself in her room an' cry about it. No sir! Not Lois Lane! You know what she did, sonny? It sounds outrageous, but if you knew Lois, you'd believe every word of it. She got three MP's drunk. That don't sound like much til you realise it was all part o' her plan. The MP's were friends o' hers – I think all the guys on her daddy's base were Lois' friends – and they were guardin' the Communications bunker. Anyways, under the guise of a birthday celebration, she liquored it up with those MP's and they passed right out, lettin' her have free access. So she uses the radio to call in a 10-73, Base Under Covert Attack.

That little stunt lit a fire under the whole of the United States Military – as you can imagine it would. Her daddy was on the next plane outta Korea, and back home in double-time – just so she could chew him out personally for missin' her birthday!

Yup… she was a character, Lois Lane.

When you really think about it – ain't no one else he coulda fallen for. Not that hard. Not that completely. Not that forever.

She gave him the job application to start workin' here and they were partners right away. Their desks were side by side – I think they're in a museum too – and they broke stories, I tell ya. For years, if somethin' big happened – to do with Superman or not – you could bet your house the byline would say 'Lane and Kent' and sleep sure in the knowledge you'd have a roof over your head tomorrow.

I read this magazine piece once where they said the only reason Lois Lane got as much attention as she does – as head of that reportin' duo – is because of his disguise. That he made Clark Kent weaker, more submissive. Well, that's a load o' ol' bull, I'll tell ya now! I saw her come down like a ton o' bricks on Superman himself in the bullpen one day. I was at my desk, and someone called me askin' me to come break up a ruckus. By the time I got there, he was in the middle o' the room – I guess he'd just flown in through the window – and she was in front of him, finger jabbin' in his face, givin' him the kind o' hell reserved for Dante himself! Seems he went and took a meteor-rock bullet tryin' to save her and Lois was havin' none of it! How dare he get himself hurt? Way she saw it he was way more important than her, and if he put himself in such stupid danger again, she was gonna personally kick his ass!

The look on that man's face – the face every criminal on fifty worlds is scared of – you knew he believed it. She was angry, and he was sorry, and he promised not to do it again.

When's the last time I saw her? Monday, o' course. Yes, she's Senator Lane now, but that don't stop the tradition. Every Monday, sure as sunrise, she's by my side with a coffee and a bagel, ready to shoot the breeze. You wanna know a secret, sonny? God bless my wife, but I think I've always been a little in love with Lois Lane. Superman got lucky on that one. You betcha…

Speakin' o' the Man o' Steel himself…

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	5. Clark

**Clark.**

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Like I said, I known him since he was teenager in high school. Very quiet fella, but with a purpose about him. People have always said that Clark Kent was his disguise, but they're wrong… every single one o' them. Superman's the disguise. Clark Kent is the hero.

Never one to push himself forward, was Clark. He was polite, and kind, and just a good all round boy. His parents raised him right, they did. An' I suppose the world is lucky for that. Can you imagine what it woulda been like if Superman wasn't a decent person? There might not be no more world.

He was so proud on his first day o' work here. Came in with his backpack, and his red flannel shirt… smilin' like a boy who finally saw the path to bein' a man. Course I knew him by then, and he stopped to chat to me. He told me how Lois had badgered him into takin' the job, and how he was so lookin' forward to bein' on the frontlines. Doing some good in the world. Tellin' the truth.

Course I don't gotta recount everythin' you already know about what happened next. The Daily Planet's centre to what the call the Myth of Superman these days. But the truth is, what he was on that first day, he stayed for all his time here. Just a man doin' his job. Tellin' the truth. Tryin' to do some good in the world.

A hell of a reporter. Perry White told me so himself. Clark Kent had a way with words, and a desire to do his bit. I guess you could say I'm proud of him… if that ain't too presumptuous.

I was at their wedding too. Lois sat me right upfront, she did, and Clark mentioned me in his speech. Said he owed Mondays With Morrie for a chance to spend time away from work with Lois. How he loved the way we used to sit and just be friends together. How it was a haven for him. A time, and a place, where the world and it's problems – always _his_ problems – could wait for a while.

Greatest compliment I ever got.

I was there for that. I was there the day he caught the globe when it fell off the roof. I was there the day Zod tore out the front of the building and Superman chucked him clear to Nebraska. I was there the day Doomsday fell… right in the street outside… and Superman fell with him.

I took Lois inside that day. I had to pry her hands off his bloody body and drag her – not an easy feat for a man approachin' 90 by that stage. I had a little office by then – where we spent our Mondays. I sat her down in a chair, but she didn't want none of it. She sat in my lap and hugged me and cried. I cried too. I cried so much.

It was in the months that after that I figured out 'the secret'. Superman died, and Clark Kent disappeared. So I started to think about things. There's not much else to do in the late hours with nothin' but monitors showin' empty hallways to stare at. I recalled how you never saw the two of them in the same place together. How it was always Lois who got the one-on-one interviews, even though they shared every other story.

So I asked her. And she told me. And I kept that secret until he revealed it himself in 2019. Those days… the days without Superman… were the hardest days I ever lived through. And I was in Operation Overlord. You know it by a different name, o' course, the Battle of Normandy. But that was a cake walk compared to a world without her Guardian. It felt… hopeless. Like the sun had gone out.

Thank the Lord it didn't last. He came back. He righted the wrongs. He put Lex, and Cyborg and Brainiac in their place and… the greatest gift of all… he made Lois smile again.

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	6. Outro

**Outro.**

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So that's my story, sonny. A piece of it at least.

I been privileged in my life, I know that. I had a good woman who stood by my side. I earned a decent wage at a job I loved. And I had friends. The best of friends.

Why they cared about an ol' codger like me is somethin' you'll have to ask 'em yourself… all's I know is, they did. Every Monday we would sit together – the way people did before bloggers and the intraweb – and we'd talk about life.

About love.

About the important things.

It was the grandest of times.

And I'll go to my grave knowin', I had the best of it…"

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**The End.**


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